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After 10 months of ownership and fairly constant wrenching on the car I thought I better start a thread to document and discuss the on-going project. Shout out to @Sammo and his thread for the inspiration!! My first car was a Lachssilber 1987 M325i so have always had a soft spot for the Mtech 1 e30’s. Would have been a lot cheaper if I had kept it rather than selling it for $6k back in 2014… crazy how much the market has changed since then. Side note, if anyone has any info on that car I would love to hear where it’s at and how it’s going. Rego was NF9539. Current goal with the car is to use it semi daily / on going project. I have already done a fair bit to the car over the last 10 months which I will list below. The plan is to document as I tick jobs off the list and will also be posting breakdowns of work I have already carried out along with photos. Things completed: Engine / Trans: Cambelt / water pump / tensioner / cam seal / accessory belts / air filter Valve cover gasket / Valve adjustment / spark plugs Engine mounts Oil filter / oil pan gasket New OE fuel lines / filter / pump / fuel regulator Clean and rebuild injectors New OE coolant hoses / coolant reservoir / level sensor / thermostat New OE vacuum lines / intake boot New OE Distributor Rotor / Distributor Cap / spark plug cables New gaskets: intake manifold / throttle body / thermostat housing etc Z3 shifter Manual Transmission Mounts Shifter cup / Washers for Shifter Linkage Derlin rear bushing carier / Derlin shifter bushings Suspension / steering: New Bilstein B8 Sport dampers / Eibach Pro-Kit performance lowering springs Shock housing refurb / hubs / brake pads and rotors Purple tag rack / custom power steering lines New control arms / tie rods / bushings / drop links / sway bar bushings Front subframe stripped and repainted Exterior: Window seals Repaint shadow line trim / grill / plastics Brand new OEM tail lights 15" basketweave refurb: paint stripped / lips cleaned up / repaint Centre caps: paint stripped / repaint (New BMW emblems yet to be stuck on) Interior: New OEM style shift boot New driver door handle / surrounds / sunroof crank Lots of things to come with the car, most notably a full new interior re-upholstery. Have the kit ready to be installed (in all its OEM houndstooth glory)

Waking up a dead post here, I BOUGHT IT! Sourced an M Sport Bumper and some Bixenon non-AHL headlights New FRM module (coded by some random guy in Poland for $30). H+R springs and Shocks, 35% tints all round, Style M763 Reps 8.5 and 9.5". Stage 2 @ 375bhp 800nm torque and 6.1l/100km between Auckland to Wellington! I've wanted one for years and this came up being quite rare in NZ and i had to have it. Best daily I've owned!

Swapping the clutch this weekend. Got caught out by the T60 flywheel bolts of which I didn't have a key for. Had to buy one at 5:15pm on a Sat. Dual mass has a ton of play. In every direction. Self adjusting clutch had nothing left to give.

My pic, Nikon D4s 70-200 2.8FL/E

Got the rear brackets this morning. They look really good and arrived super fast !!

Thanks for the info and will consider joining. My Dad was a member for a long time. Had a great yarn to Hagen re his Dad's ownership when purchasing. I love the Diana star-shaped alloys of the period and the BBS wheels that were on it were an incorrect fit. I quite like how it sits on these steelies for now too! Cheers, Rob

This car was previously featured in the BMW Car Club NZ quarterly magazine DIXI under Hagen's ownership, great accounts of his Dad buying the car, trips through the continent etc, Alpina options. If you've not joined the club yet, you should consider it. There's undoubtedly a story in your recent restoration work too. As for what wheels, IMHO keep it on what it's got - those BBS Mahle rims are period correct and what his Dad put on at the time. The only other option in keeping with that could be the 15" version if you can find some. Cheers.

The couriers are being good to me it seems (at the moment) and I should have the rear calipers and brackets this coming week so I can do a test fitting before sorting out discs and caliper refurbishment etc. The fronts are a little more complicated when looking at 'good value' options for the rotors. As the folks at freakyparts.co.uk will be putting this kit together I've been looking at the rotor options they currently provide for the E46 M3 kits: E9x M3 (360x30mm) E46 M3 CSL (345x28mm) I made up the templates which are available on their web site to check fitment against the wheel and both easily fit with plenty of clearance which is nice (image below). For reference this is in a Work Emotion M8R 18x8.5 ET38. However, I'm sure the E9x rotor will foul the tie rod end and / or the lower control arm around the ball joint. Potentially this is where the M3 king pin / knuckle gets it's extra track width ?? More pics below to illustrate ... another difference that might make it work is the hat thickness being thicker on the E9x where it sits between the hub and wheel 🤔 So options from here for rotors will be (after seeking some wisdom from freakyparts.co.uk after they test fit with the knuckle they are buying): E46 M3 CSL (expensive) Maybe the E9x M3 will work but it's hella close to fouling ? Custom 2 piece using a DBA 5000 series rotor or similar to get the spicy size as well as a 'low offset'

DISA flap in the manifold is another one to check. If it's not working the fuel economy will be up. They also have a tendency to fall apart inside the manifold and get sucked into the cylinders, so it's a fairly important thing to check up on.

And she's back on the road

Having a 130 and a Mk3 Octavia VRS (essentially the same as a Mk7 GTI), can categorically say the BMW is cheaper and easier to service. Parts are cheaper, less things break, and N52B30 is very very DIY documented. 130 is also much better built, and stock is significantly faster. The only real area that the VW product is substantially much better is if you were looking at an Auto 130, the VW DSG is WAY superior... if most of your driving is sitting in Auckland traffic a DSG golf is a good option to consider, otherwise 130. Dont worry about PreLCI or LCI (silver Vs black top N52s), the black top rocker covers are plastic and crack (and have integrated CCV), the silver top rocker covers are magnesium and corrode (and have external CCV). Both sh*t emselves in different ways and both will have oil leaks. Power outputs are identical, black tops are cheaper to make and hit the newer emission standards easier. Buy on manual Vs auto, service history (beyond the BMW minimums) and condition, then options, then k's (in that order)

I bought this car! Had a crazy family connection and had to have it. I spotted my dad's car (74 Tii race car) in the background of his last Trademe pic. In the paperwork pile with the car, there was old pictures of my late father at the same meets as his late father with both of their 2002's in the early 2000's. A beautiful coincidence. Very very happy.

KiwiRail video shows train smashing into car on rail crossing in North Island | Stuff Nice 130i got smoked by a train last year down the road from my work. Took out all our crossing monitoring equipment too (the white boxes on the right). Girl was apparently on her phone.